DETROIT, June 15 -- Business, nonprofit and advocacy leaders today have
called for a recovery of the manufacturing sector that includes enacting
pro-industry policies and regulation that drive research and development,
managing capital and investment, and creating new demand through innovation
and globalization. The executives participating in the "Manufacturing
Competitiveness" Town Hall at The National Summit in Detroit agreed that
economic growth requires the United States to be a manufacturing
leader.

The panelists shared ideas and recommended specific actions that would
help restore manufacturing's prominence in the United States:

-- Chip McClure, CEO, ArvinMeritor: The future of manufacturing must rely
on advancing through innovation, exploration and commercialization,
which requires an increasingly sophisticated workforce and government
policies to generate continued growth.
-- Vikram Pandit, CEO, Citi: Any discussion of manufacturing in America
must now include origin and availability of capital. Struggling
companies will re-tool and repurpose, and they require plans worthy of
investment. The financial community must work together with
manufacturers to rebuild for the century ahead.
-- John Engler, president of National Association of Manufacturers: The
United States remains the world's largest manufacturing nation,
accounting for more than 19.5 percent of global manufacturing output.
In 2007, the country produced more volume of products than ever
before, and manufacturing represented $1.6 trillion of our economy.
However, manufacturing is in recession. Every action the federal
government takes to impose new burdens or add new costs makes it more
difficult for manufacturers to create jobs and compete in the global
economy.
-- Deborah Wince-Smith, president, Council on Competitiveness: The global
competitive landscape has changed radically and irrevocably. America
must prepare for the Age of Innovation, and high value-added
manufacturing must play a central role.

According to Engler, the federal government needs to consider the
long-term impact that increasing costs, adding new regulations, raising
taxes and expanding litigation will have on America's future economic
competitiveness.

"Prosperity comes from building, creating and producing," said McClure.
"Tough choices must be made to create a pro-industry climate with policies
on trade, taxes, energy, health care, and education that make it
competitive for U.S. and foreign manufacturers to build here. An economic
downturn is not the time to walk away from 12 million American
manufacturing jobs. It's the time to build."

Wince-Smith added that manufacturers must work toward exploiting
nanotechnology, biotechnology and digital revolutions; fulfilling the need
for clean energy and energy efficiency; increasing productivity with
digitally infused production operations; and deploying high-performance
computing that will lower the cost of innovation.

While manufacturing has been leaving the country, the panelists agreed
it is important to ensure the departure means globalizing the supply chain,
not giving it up. The industry must meet new areas of demand and ensure its
position in a balanced, global manufacturing economy.

McClure believes manufacturers must get involved with policymakers and
restore confidence in the country's ability to compete, encourage
innovative policies such as incentives to repatriate work, and improve
vocational training to meet advanced technology's needs.

Added Engler, we think competitiveness should be the starting point for
the debate in Washington. Policymakers must consider a comprehensive
energy policy, a pro-growth tax system, strengthened innovation, expanded
trade and reasonable labor policies.